Published April 5, 2026
In 1924, biochemist Otto Warburg observed that cancer cells “feed” differently than normal cells, preferring an unusual energy-generating mechanism where glucose is fermented to lactate. This sugar-driven process of cancer formation is linked to insulin resistance, inflammation, and the formation of new blood vessels that fuel rapid tumor growth. Known for his ascetic lifestyle and his holistic view of biology, Warburg believed that diet profoundly influenced health, and so he avoided alcohol, tobacco, and meat. Even after he won the Nobel Prize for a different discovery, Warburg continued to live a frugal life of solitary laboratory research, despite family wealth and Nobel earnings.
For almost a century, his pioneering discovery of the “Warburg effect” in cancer metabolism has been mostly ignored. Had we grasped its implications, the resultant advice to lower the risk of various cancers would probably have boiled down to: “Don’t eat sugar.” But that public health message was never…
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Aaron Kheriaty, MD, is the Director of the Bioethics, Technology, and Human Flourishing Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is a physician specializing in psychiatry who has published over one hundred articles and five books, including most recently, Making the Cut: How to Heal Modern Medicine.
